Urban Wildlife

[Westernskies]

Saw a coyote in the desert bordering my back yard a few days ago, snapped this picture before he took off.... Wondered what other urban wildlife the folks on this forum are seeing?

 

[Notmuchlonger]

We got a lot of ducks around here. Plenty of little man made ponds and lakes. Pretty neat seeing the mama's drag around the little ones. No coyotes though!

 

[FUEGO]

Ducks, geese, other waterfowl, turtles, birds, squirrels, deer, great blue heron, hawks, snakes, rabbits, beavers, possums, foxes. All in 1/3 acre in an urban area on a lake.

This time of year is pretty neat with all the baby ducklings and goslings trailing along behind their parents on the lake. I wish I had a telephoto lens a few days ago - a family of ducklings, a family of goslings, and a great blue heron were all lounging on a tiny peninsula sticking out into the lake from my backyard all within 15 feet of each other. Picture perfect as they say.

Last night we went out on a walk around the neighborhood with our kids. They wanted to go to the park but it was too late and about to rain, so we distracted them by telling them to look for animals instead. All we saw out of the ordinary was a rabbit. But the kids loved it. And completely forgot about the park.

No coyotes though...

 

[tuixiu]

Great pic!

We often have coyotes trotting thru the neighborhood, sometimes in pairs.

Before I moved to Arizona I'd never seen one, didn't realize how small they were. Sometimes I have evil thoughts about the neighbors cat that poops in our yard and it's relationship in the suburban the food chain to the coyote.

Our other issues are bark scorpions, used to find mainly outside on the block wall fence but sometimes inside. I've never been stung but my wife has gotten in twice... once reaching inside the washing machine and once putting on a shirt.

I vow to someday catch one of the black widows we in their messy webs and put it in a jar with scorpion, but probably not a fair fight since widow is an trap and ambush predator whereas scorpion is built to fight head on.

 

[tuixiu]

Attached is one of the bark scorpions in question.

We briefly enslaved it in a terrarium, until it became winter and too difficult to catch crickets to feed it so let it go.

 

[Purron]

Saw a coyote in the desert bordering my back yard a few days ago, snapped this picture before he took off.... Wondered what the other urban folks on this forum are seeing?

Cool picture! I've seen many coyotes when visiting my family in Kansas. Also lots of jackalopes

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Same as Fuego, but throw in gators near the water hazards, ibis pecking away at the neighborhood lawns, owls, hawks, wood storks.

 

[Coach]

The other morning I stepped out on my front porch to see a red fox trotting down the street -- I'm in a city neighborhood. And a day to two ago I was out walking and saw a hawk that had just gotten a small snake.

Last week I was driving in the foothills and saw the first wild turkey I've ever seen. That's a big bird!

Coach

 

[FUEGO]

Same as Fuego, but throw in gators near the water hazards, ibis pecking away at the neighborhood lawns, owls, hawks, wood storks.

Forgot to mention the owls and hawks and other raptors. And catfish. The latter was apparently dropped by a hawk on our front lawn. Mmmm... catfish.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

In the suburbs of Los Angeles I frequently see possums before dawn. My friend's dog catches several each year in her backyard. Many lizards sunning on my concrete walls. Black widows under debris. A hawk used to sit on the roof near my office (before retirement), scanning the cemetary across the street, diving off on occasion.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Two foxes have been running down our street, and we believe a skunk is now living disturbingly close to our house. Perhaps the foxes will get hungry enough to take out the skunk.

 

[travelover]

I live in the suburbs, but have a small (60 foot diameter) pond. Yesterday I saw a large (14" or so shell) snapper on the lawn next to the pond. I ran down from the house and was able to intercept him long enough to get a good look, but not a picture. Also saw a coyote and a red fox in the same area - I think they want the wood ducks.

 

[ziggy29]

Really not much for me here in town. But recently I've been seeing a lot of raccoons. This morning, being a commute-to-Austin morning before sunup, I drove toward a big fat coon which was just standing there in the road.

 

[WanderALot]

I'm in Orange County, CA and I see at least a few hawks and turkey vultures everyday right off the freeway. Possums go through our yard on a regular basis (we just found a dead one under some wood last week!) and we have had coyote warnings in our area because of cats disappearing. There's also the occasional bobcat sighting and the very rare mountain lion sighting in the hiking/biking open space areas. Tons of egrets and a few blue herons out in the wetlands close to our house. Bunnies in the parks.

Oh, and rattlesnakes too. My coworker who leaves close to a canyon sees rattlesnakes quite frequently.

It's all pretty amazing to see this much wildlife in the middle of dense suburbia.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Echo Rich in Tampa as I live in the burbs. Don't see much around here except for hawks and sand hill cranes. The cranes I can't even call wild life with a straight face. They walk around the malls looking for handouts and are all over our neighborhood. Love the babies and still haven't figured out how they get those long legs folded up inside the egg. I see most wildlife on the golf courses such as gators, fox, eagles, osprey and a couple varities of hawks.

 

[freebird5825]

Miss Country Girl here sees it all. Does it count if I drive to a small city and then see wildlife at home?
Just kidding.
The local critter collection consists of: whitetail deer, red fox, hawks, eagles, turkey vultures, huge flocks of crows, wild turkeys, herons, gulls, wild ducks, Canadian geese, rabbits, constantly hear but do not see coy dogs, chipmunks, squirrels, moles, woodchucks, skunks, porcupines, raccoons, field mice, garden snakes, bull frogs, toads, salamanders, bats (living in 2 bathouses I built), dairy cows , feral cats. Whew!
No elephants, giraffes or aardvarks.

 

[FUEGO]

I live in the suburbs, but have a small (60 foot diameter) pond. Yesterday I saw a large (14" or so shell) snapper on the lawn next to the pond. I ran down from the house and was able to intercept him long enough to get a good look, but not a picture.

We see these quite often. We have had a few of these guys get stuck in our yard somehow. It always requires careful removal with a shovel. These guys are usually 14-18" and have tails 12-18" long and necks probably 6" long, so removal with anything longer than a shovel could result in serious injury and/or dismemberment. It is amazing how heavy they are - probably 10 pounds. And amazing how delicious they are...

One turtle even tried to make her nest underneath my kids' swing set until I scared her off. Here's some pics of these scary beasts.

 

[FIREd]

Deers, squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, chipmunks, mice, armadillos, eagles, snakes, frogs, lizards, scorpions, bobcats, coyotes, possums, black widows, and all kinds of birds (woodpeckers, cardinals, morning doves, blue jays, etc...). I live in suburbia, but my house is right on the edge of a huge, heavily wooded nature preserve.

 

[NW-Bound]

On the metropolitan freeways, I often encounter urban wildlife on SUVs speeding and zigzagging across lanes.

 

[samclem]

We live inthe suburbs, but have lots of animals around. We feed the birds and squirrels, have a good time watching the chipmunks, and have an occasional groundhog in a neighbor's yard. We're big groundhog fans and are trying to figure out how to get one to set up housekeeping in a corner of our lot.

Biggest events lately:
- We've seen a reticulated woodpecker in opur backyard twice in the last month. That's a big bird. (File photo attached)

- Yesterday when I was outside a big six-point buck came running past me through the neighbor's yard. He hopped the low fence like it was nothing and was on his way. There was nothing quiet about him, the noise of his approach was what alerted me to the whole thing. It was about 11 AM, I was surpised he was dashing about in mid day like that.

 

[cantlogin]

... have an occasional groundhog in a neighbor's yard. We're big groundhog fans and are trying to figure out how to get one to set up housekeeping in a corner of our lot.

I live in a National Wildlife Refuge so I don't meet the urban qualification and won't attempt to list the critters that come to visit. I understand how you find groundhogs attractive and am cultivating them in my own yard. I'm no expert but have been watching their behavior for a few years and I think that shelter is the critical factor in encouraging their residency. They naturally dig their burrows in the shelter of woods or rocks near the edge of open areas. I have observed that they like to be able to get under something quickly when frightened. I have discouraged them from digging under the edges of concrete slabs and noticed that they are equally eager to create burrows under wooden decks that rest on the ground.

If I were trying to lure one of these guys to create a new burrow I'd build a small platform with a small opening or two between the platform and the ground. This seems to work as a good invitation for them to begin their own excavation under this cover.

I like to feed my neighbors and they have an appetite for a variety of foods. Birdseed, carrots, celery, lettuce and peanuts are all popular. The carrots and celery are good because there is no competition with the birds and squirrels for these meals.

Here's a link to a groundhog site:
Groundhogs at HogHaven - Groundhog Woodchuck Photo Video Recording Day

These are photos of some of my residents.

 

[WanderALot]

As if on cue, this place is about 10-15 miles from my house as the crow flies. It's in a national forest, but very close to major urban areas.

Mountain lion mauls dog that defended owners

 

[samclem]

These are photos of some of my residents.

Dang, you are really lucky.
There were signs of groundhog excavations on three sides of our house (against the foundation wall) when we moved in, but I don't know if they were active. Thanks very much for the tips on attracting them. I'll give the wood platform a shot, there's a good spot at the back of our property. Also, I'm planing to build a small concrete pad for a trailer, it would be easy to beef it up with some rebar and thicker concrete so that a groundhog burrowing underneath wouldn't compromise its integrity.
The little guys are fun to watch. The ones who ived nearby two years ago loved brocolli and cauliflower. They would also come over and eat the petunias-just the flowers, and usually the ones that needed to be deadheaded anyway.
I'm a little nervous about inviting them over to stay, as these animals are, ahem, not universally popular. My neighbors might kill or trap them when they come to visit. I guess that can't be prevented, and if we grow the right stuff maybe they'll restrct their grazing primarily to our yard.

Thanks for the pictures. Did you ever see them climb trees? We saw a whole family of three go up and down a hackberry tree. They aren't very graceful, but they make up for it in persistence.

 

[Moemg]

Ducks ,snakes , fish especially catfish and mullet , crabs , blue herons , egrets and occasional manatees .

 

[Martha]

I live in a very urban area. I used to walk to downtown to work from my home, about 1.8 miles.

We have seen these mammals:

bears
raccoons
skunks
deer
rabbits
fox
gray squirrels
chipmunks
norway rats
mice

We have quite a bit of bird life, with a Merlin pair nesting in a spruce behind our home and a bald eagle pair nesting at the old school a block and a half away. The herring gulls just got back north and are screaming around the house today. Yard nesters include ruby throated hummingbirds, robins, crows, chickadees, purple finches, blue jays that can perfectly imitate the Merlins, and assorted sparrows. The Merlins did a good job of reducing the doves and pigeons.

No hummingbirds back yet--feeders set out a couple of days ago. The raptors aren't around yet nor are the jays. Chickadees are here year round and are singing the mating call over and over.